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April 'iOtli. 1805. 



K. P. 1). C. AT U XT ON VILLI- 



WESTCHESTKK CO. NEW YORK 




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I^^AAr' ,r. OTJVEK. STEAM BOOK AND JOC nilXTEE. 
■52 Beekman Stbb;et. 

18 65. 



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Eev. w. e. Booaedi-s, Un. ' ,; -' na 

We listeuccl with pleasure to yura* sermon 
touching upou the assassination of our hitc President, and re- 
quest Tou to permit ns to have it printed. 

Mmj 2d, 18G5. 

'T. G. Gkaham, 
S. Miller, 
J. W. BoiC'E, 
"\Vm. Bexedkt, 
J. W. Fuller, 
J. B. See, 

A. ROSELL, 

A. Yekks, 
H. Yeeks. 



Gentlemex, 

I received your eouiphnient and request, and my 
Iti'oduciion, thon;^'h it is not so good as I could ^Yisl), is nt your 
disj^osal. 

W. E. BoGARDrS, 

UnionviUe, WcslcJicstei- Co., .V. T". 



s K 11 ^r c) >r. 



Job 1 ; 21. '• The Loi-.l giivf auJ the Lord h.itli liiktai :i\vay: bh'ssf'd hn 
the name of the Lord." 

He who reigns over the principalities an J powers of Hell, 
also rules over the kingdom of sin in tliis world. Satan 
seized the sceptre and usui-]H'd the throne of this world, and 
op(>ned communieations between it and the realms of dark- 
ness, through the incarnation of the principle of evil — 
through his victory over the great progenitor of our race. 
The incarnation of tht^ principle of evil took [)lacr during 
that fatal hour in ^\hi(•h Adam listened to the weird music- 
of the tempter's voice, and " took the fruit of that forbidden 
tree, whose mortal task brought death into the world and 
all our woe." That act followed the entrance of sin into the 
soul of man, and, through that act, Satan established his 
kingdom in the human heart, and l)ecame the God of this 
world. To him, therefore, as their direct authtn-, or active 
and cflii-ient cause, must be attributed all the disorders, dis- 
harmonies and deformities in the moral or natural w-orld. — 
He rules in the hearts of the "children of disobedience," and 
through them produces all the iudiiierent, all the attractive 
or fa.scinating, and all the shocking or repulsive forms and 
manifestati(ms of wickedness, which transpire, in the sight 
of Heaven, upon this theatre of ours — this round Earth. — 
The laws of nature are, also, to a limited extent, subject to 
him as the (iod of this world. His jiower in this woi'ld 



would be unlimited were it not for the purpose of God in 
Clirist. God, for the sake of Christ's atonement, and in 
answer to the prayers of His C^hureh, has hitherto so re- 
strained, and v.'ill continue so to restrain the operations of 
Satan, and so to regulate the manifestations of human de- 
pravity, and so to ward off, alleviate or overrule " the pesti- 
lence that wailketh in darkness, and the destruction that 
wasteth at noon-day," and the countless other calamities to 
which our race is heir, that they will result in the fullest 
possible exliibition of His own glory, and the best possible 
good of those who believe in His son, and in the triumph of 
good over evil, of righteousness over wickedness, of liberty 
over oppression, of truth over error, and of light over dark- 
ness — a triumph which will l)e all the more magnificent and 
glorious, because it shall be won by stern conflicts, and shall 
be covered, so to speak, with the sweat and the dust, the 
wounds and the blood of hard fought battles. 

In the chapter from wliich we selected our text, we have 
an illustration and a proof that 8atan can and does so oper- 
ate upon the human heart, and so apply the laws of nature, 
as to accomplish his own diabolical pm-poses : and that lie 
does both, not at the command, but with the permission of 
God, and subject the restraints or limitations which God 
imposes. We read, that the Lord, in order to test Job's 
faith and to impose upon him a salutary discipline, and to 
develop the integrity he had planted in liim, "said unto 
Satan," who had accused Job of serving God from motives 
of self-interest, "behold all that he hath is in thy power: 
only upon JdnweJf (this limitation was afterwards partially 
removed,) put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth 
from tlie presence of the Ijord." A record of the calamities, 
which soon after fell uj)on Job, immediately follows. Of 



these calamities, Satan vras the ac-Hvc ami efficient cause.— 
The Sabeans, wlio fell upon the oxen anil asses, and took 
them away, and slew Uie servants with the edge of the 
sword, acted under the guidance and the influence or insti- 
gation of Satan. The great fire, which burned up the sheep 
and the servants w^ho attended them, was j)roduced by Satan 
through a skillfid application of the laws of nature. The 
Chaldeans, who fell upon the camels and carried them away 
and slew the servants with the sword, acted under the im- 
mediate influence and guidance of Satan, their unseen com- 
mander. The great wind, which camxs from the wildeniess 
and smote the house in which the sons and daughters of 
Job were fcnxsting, with such violence that it fell and crushed 
them, was gotten up by his Satanic majesty, (rod was the 
author of these calamities, which fell upon his sen-ant Job, 
so far as tliis, but no further : And thus far and no further 
He is the author of all the calamities which fall upon indi- 
viduals and nations. He did not ])revent them. He could 
most certainly have prevented them, but as a judgment 
against the sin of oui- race from which .lob was not ♦free, and 
in order, as I before remarked, to test the faith and develop 
the integrity of his servant, he permitted Satan to wield hie 
power, subject to hmitation, as the Gbd of this world. Job 
felt the weight and the terrible severity of these, to him, 
mysterious dispensations of di\ine providence ; but his laith 
in God endured the test, and his integrity of soul proved a 
tower of strength. " Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, 
and shaved his head," acts expressive of the deep grief of 
his h^art, "and fell down upon the gi'ound and worshiped,'" 
fin act expressive of the dei)th of his imafi'eeted humility, 
" and said, the Lord gave and the I^ord hatli taken away ; 
blessed be the name of the Ijord." 



6 

In the light of the priuciple, which I have suggested, re- 
specting the manifestations of human dejiiavity — the opera- 
tions of Satan in the heart of man — the judgments or cahxmi- 
ties which befall individuals and nations, and the conflict 
which is ever going on between truth and error, righteous- 
ness and wickedness, liberty and oppression, hght and dark- 
ness, we ought to stud}' our own experience, the history of 
the world, and the history of our countrv'. God led those, 
who were persecuted for righteousness' sake, to seek an 
asylum in America, and His hand, in our revolutionary 
struggle for liberty, and in the formation of our government, 
is distinctly visible. The government of the United States 
is the best government tliat ever was instituted on earth. 
It is thoroughly adapted to the expansion of thought, the 
development of truth, the advancement of liberty and ci'vali- 
zation, and the ultimate triumph of all the grand principles 
of Christianity. It grants and protects free speech — not li- 
centious speech — a free press, a free pulpit, the free discus- 
sion of the fundamental principles of truth and justice, of 
right and liberty, of humanity and Christianity ; and where 
these principles can be freely discussed, no one, who has 
faith in God, can doubt the result. It encourages scientitie 
researches and discoveries, and the development of the arts. 
And civilization inevitably accompanies and advances stej) 
by step, with the progress of the arts and sciences. It sub- 
jects the individual tothose restraints alone, which are really 
necessary to secure to all the largest amount of civil and re- 
ligious fi'ecdom. It is emphatically the people's government. 
No man, or set of men, ever ruled over us by virtue of his (jr 
of their descent. No num, or set of men, ever ruled over us 
whose authority was se^lf-constituted — whose authority origi- 
liated i'lX)!!! bis or tlicii- (jwn A\ill. We are all hoc iu(>n. 



I have ahvays thouju'lit, and still think, that the (lo^truc- 
tion of our govennncnt would be, next to the fall of Adam, 
the greatest calamity which e\ev fell upon the hnraan race. 
The destruction of our i^overuniciit would iuvohu the de- 
struction of our free, civil, and religii)us institutions, and tho 
destniction of our free, civil, and religious institutions would 
be the most terrible defeat which the cause of christiiLnity, 
and human liberty, and civilization ever experienced. It 
Mould be a victory on the side of 8a.ta}i and hell. Tb<* 
causes, which have been at work for the past thirty years or 
more, tending to the destruction t)f our government, are, 
therefore, to be explained. I sincerely believe, upon the 
sound, scriptural hypothesis, that Satan has been executing 
a vast and intricate plan, and develo[)ing and organizing a 
treacherous power, for the overthrow of our free institutions 
— for the subversion of the government whose chief corner 
stone is Liberty, and the establishment of a goverament 
whose chief corner stone should be Slavery— for the purpose 
of driving the huuian race upon the back ti'ack toward bar- 
barism, oppression, and anti-christianity. Some of these 
causes arc, doubtless, to be traced to the corruptions in the 
House of llepresentatives, m tlu^ Senate, and in the Cabinet. 
But these causes, had they existed olone^ would, I doubt not, 
have been eventually removed by the free press and the 
free pulpit. A gigantic evil stood in the way and had to be 
destroyed, before the minor evils could be effectually reached. 
The press and the })ulpit, had it not been for the hydra- 
headed monster, which threatened to petrify every one who 
spoke against it, and to convert, if agitated, our country— 
our beautiful palace — into a heaj) of ruins, would have been 
more faithful to the people, in respect to those corruptions ; 
and the people would have become gi-adually enlightened. 



8 

^nd, as the inevitable consequence, the unworthy men, who 
represented us, would have been removed, and men of sound 
integi-ity, of purer moral and religious principles, would have 
been substituted in their place. The real causes, which 
have been at work for the overthiow of our government, are 
not to be loimd, either as some strangely suppose, in the 
aggressive spirit of hberty ; for the spuit of hberty is the 
spirit of oul' government, and the very life of our fi'ee institu- 
tions. The real causes, which have been at work for the 
overthrow of our govemmeut, are to be found in the ag- 
gressive spirit of oppression, of the Southern oligarchy, of 
slaver}', of despotism ; for the spirit of oppression and WTong 
is clearly antagonistic to our government, and utterly incom- 
patible with om' free institutions. 

There was a time, I confess with shame, when 1 thought 
the spirit of liberty was too aggressive, and that an immense 
deal of truth respecting Southern institutions, was altered by 
the Ci-ee thinking men, and the free speaking press and pul- 
pit of the North, which might better have been suppressed. 
I was either too prejudicial, or my judgment was not suffici- 
ently developed to percicve that Sewakd uttered merely a 
necessary tmth, — that which is true in the nature of things, 
and not because he said it,— that which no denial, no argu- 
pient, no law, no possibility, human or divine, could change 
into an untruth, — when he asserted, in his famous Rochester 
speech, " There is, and must 1 )e, an irrepressible conflict be- 
tween liberty and slavery ; for slavery, in its very nature, is 
antagonistijC to liberty ; and liberty, in its ver}* nature, is an- 
tagonistic to slaAciT." (I am not certain that I quote the 
very language.) 

I was coming, however, by careful reflection, to clearei" 
light — to the eopviction that my opinion was erroneous.— 



9 

Ami \y\un\ the frcdclienius }rmrr was develo]ied and organ- 
ized, with tho avowed purpose vf destroying our glorious 
Union, and before the blow against Fort Sumter had rever- 
lierated through tlio land, I tliauked God that the standard 
of liberty had been lifted up against the aggressive tenden- 
cies of oppression, and that the i)eople~the majority of the 
people of the free States had rallied around that standard. 
I awoke to the clear realization of the fact, that, if the spirit 
of liberty liad not been aggressive, the spirit of slavery, the 
si)irit of the Southern oligarchy would ultimately have de- 
stroyed our free institutions, and made the government of 
the United States like the government of the Southern States, 
a government of o[)pression and wrong. I knew, (and who 
that opened his eyes did not know?) that the base champions 
of injustice — the slave oligarchy, unable to meet, resist and 
overcoitie the arguments which were leveled against their 
institutions — the arguments of truth and justice, of humani- 
ty and Christianity — and, imwilling to abide by the decision 
of the people, the decision of a free ballot, and, actuated by 
the spirit of their institutions, were about to resort to the 
infamous argument of rebellion ; were about to inaugurate 
a bloody civil war for the purpose of smashing our free gov- 
ernment into fragments, and establishing upon the ruins a 
government of diabolical oppression — for tlie purpose of 
murdering the high hopes, the noble aspirations, the best 
possibilities of humanity, and burying them beneath the 
thrones of anarchy and despotism. I knew, (and who but 
the man with closed eyes did not know?) that we had 
reached the crises of our national existence, the crisis of the 
existence of our free, civil and religious institutions, the 
crisis of our existence as a free and seK-govemed people, 
and that, if we would preserve our liberty, we must also pre- 



10 

serve our I^'nion, because thej were theu, are uow, jrud will 
ever be, one and inseparable : That if we would preserve 
our free institutions, and our existence as a-free people, and 
would not forsake the rights and hopes of humanity, like 
poltroons, we must not shrink, from the horrors of fratricidal 
war, but committing our cause to a just God, and to Him 
Avho came into our world to give liberty to the human race, 
nuist array ourselves in battle-harness and meet the terrible 
emergency — fight like men upon the bloody field for our 
Union and our Liberty, against treason and rebellion. — 
There were many, however, who did not shrink from the 
horrors of such a wav. There were few, very few, who did 
not dread to have the curtain rise, who would not, at any 
sacrifice, short of the destruction of our government, gladly 
have been relieved from the necessity of drinking the cup so 
full of awful judgments, if such had been the will of Heaven. 
We Avere, as you all, doubtless, remember, in a state almost 
of distraction and upon the very verge of dissolution and 
anarchy, which, if it had taken place, would have proved 
the worst calamity that could have fallen upon the American 
people — one of the most deplorable judgments that ever fell 
u})on our sinful race. 

How near w' e actually were to the verge of dissolution will 
appoar, if we recall three facts: — 1st. There were millions' 
throughout the free states who entertained the mistaken 
notion that the war could be averted by making large con> 
cessions to the slave states, who were innocently, but, never- 
theless, dangerously ignorant of the fact, that the traitors at 
the South, armed to the teeth and prepared for war, de- 
manded no less, and would at that time, have been satisfied 
\\i\h no less than the surrender of our capital, the annihila- 
tion of our government, and the dismemberment of the 



11 

Union, 2d. There were thousands who absohitely sympa- 
thized with the armed conspirators in all their diabolical 
<lesigns, and, who we're sincerely anxious that iJiey s/ioirld ht 
let alone, shoidd be permitted, without molestaticjii, to seize 
upon the property of the United States, and to organize 
their government in the City of Washington. 3d. The man, 
who stood at tlie helm of the ship of state, was a notorious 
imbecile, utterly incompetent for his position, and according 
to the suspicions of many, though they were, probably, 
wrong in their suspicions, he dehberately pui-posed to make 
toward the rocks and dash our glorious ship to pieces. — 
Our noble ship, tossed upon the perilous sea, had almost 
become an irrecov(>rable wreck, when, fortunately for our 
countiy, this imbecile was under the necessity of resigning 
his post to a cninpdrnl conniKiiKJcr — :i man precisely adapted 
to the position, and whose after history clearly shows that 
he was the child of Providence — ordained and prepared by 
God for the high and sublime mission, which, under God, 
he accomplished — the mission of conducting our ship, laden 
with the hopes and possibilities of humanity, not unharmed, 
but safe through the imminent storm — of conducting us, to 
drop the figure, triumphantly through the crisis of our na- 
tional existence. That .man was ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

His sterling integrity, strong moral and religious bent, 
firm faith in the goodness of God, clear conviction that 
wickedness and oppression could not stand l)efore justice 
and liberty : " His good common sense, shrewd sagacity, 
readin«>ss of wit, quick interpretation of the public mind ; 
his rare combination of fixedness and pliancy," which 
enabled him to adai)t himself to, whilt^ at the same time, he 
guided and directed public opinion ; and his steady tendency > 
of ]mii)oso, all taken togcthei-. rcmdercd him peculiarly fitted 



12. 

to conduct us through the perils of our national criijis. If 
we consider him in himself alone, and not in relation to his 
mission, there are, doubtless, those to whom, in some re- 
spects, he was far inferior. But if we consider him in his 
adaptation to the emergencies in which we were involved 
as a nation, I do not think his equal could have been pro- 
duced. God raised him up out of his obscurity, and gave 
Ixim to be the "President of the United States during 'the 
years in which we needed just such a man. And, in view of 
the wonderful results of his administration, every one, whc' 
is not a traitor to his country or an enemy of human liberty, 
doubtless, feels in his heart to say, " The Lord gave ; blessed 
be the name of the Lord." 

Wlien he went to Washington, the gates of treason were 
open. The traitors in the South had organized a gigantic re- 
bellion, and seized upon the public forts and arsenals, which 
belonged to the United States. The traitors in the North 
S}Tnpathized and were earnestly co-operating with the trai- 
tors at the South, in all their infamous designs. The people 
of the free states were tending toward dissolution, and the 
unutterable horrors of anarchy. The leaders of the Rebel- 
lion rejoiced in anticipation of establishing their government 
at Washington, beneatli the foundation stones of which the 
sights, liberties, and hopes of humanity should be eternally 
buried. Abraham Ldjcoln closed those gates of treason ; 
restored unity and harmony among the people of the free 
states ; defeated the destructive purposes, disappointed the 
ambitious hopes, and recovered from the possession of armed 
traitors, the forts and arsenals which belonged to the United 
States ; checked the progress of, and overthrew the gigantic^ 
rebellion, when it had almost taken the life of the nation. 
He did more than this. Under liis administration the foul 



13 

blot of slaverv was erased from our -Capital, and Wasliing- 
ton is uow the home only of the fi-ee. Maryland, Missouri, 
and Tennessee have ceased to b^ slave, and have become 
free states, through the reforming energy of internal forces, 
which Avere unfettered, and judiciously strengthened ; and 
the blow, which we hope, under God, will prove fatal, has 
been given, which has dashed down the diabolical system 
of oppression and \n-ong, which had existed and flourished 
in this country for more than two hundred years. 

When he left his home in Springfield, Illinois, he was un- 
known to fame. At the beginning of his first administra- 
tion, he was scofled at, and ridiculed by the proud, as a man 
unfit for his position. The prejudices of many against him 
were so ,st.rong, that his very name was, to them, the omen 
and the pledge of, they knew not what ; inconceivable 
woes were to burst, in the future, upon our then distracted 
country. Already, in anticipation, they associated his name 
with the downfall of our Piepublic — that licpnhUr which h<^ 
found tottering and about to crumble into ruins, but which 
he has left on a solid foundation, stronger, freer, more be- 
loved, more honore 1, and destined to grow more and more 
glorious, as we realize the results of the stern ordeal of blood 
through which we have passed. Blessed be the name of the 
Lord, for the wonderful things lie has done l)y the hand of 
om- late beloved President, Abraham Lincoln, whose admin- 
istration drew on him, at first, the censure and astonish- 
ment, and then, the respect and admiration of the world ; 
and who, at the height of his career, \Ahen his tine great- 
ness, and real excellence of character shone forth in tlieir 
unclouded bnghtnes.-i, and he had taken deep root in the. 
hearts of all the people, and the prospect of a gloi-ious fu- 
ture was opening before him. fell, by the bullet of a base. 



14 

contemptible, insignifioimt assassin, the most costly sacri- 
ftee to Liberty and Union, and the vi('tim of the fiendish 
rebellion iie had already crushed. 

" The Lord p;ave. Blessed be the uame of the Lord." 
We will bless the Lord for protecting him from the bullet 
and the knife of the assassin, until he had restored our Re- 
public ; saved our nation from overthrow and ruin ; subdued 
the atrocious rebellion, whose condemnation is ■written in 
Heaven ; and proclaimed liberty to millions of slaves, whose 
wrongs were hourly crying to heaven for vengeance. We 
know He could have protected him still, if such had been 
His will, and we believe He would have protected him, had 
wiB not needed the bitter cup of judgment — " had not our 
eountry needed an imperishable grief to touch its .inmost 
feelings." " The Lord hath taken away." He did not re- 
veal the secret, deep, and hellish })lot which had been laid 
to take away, not only the life of our chief magistrate, but 
the lives of all the men to whom the destiny of our couutiy 
had been entnisted. He did not prevent our late beloved 
President from unconsciously exposing himself to the un- 
known danger. He permitted John Wilkes Booth, under 
the influence of the malignant spirit of treason, to strike 
the cursed blow in behalf of the Southern Rebellion. We 
mourn our loss, and, since we mourn, we believe God will 
sanctify the judgment, and bring good out of the e\'il ; and 
ihough the dispensation is dark and mysterious, our faith 
enables us to say : " Blessed be the name of the Lord." 

The fall of Abraham Lingot,\ has opened a deep fountain 
of- sorrow in every heart that is human, for he was an ear- 
nest lover, and one of the greatest benefactors of his race. 
The horrid crime which took him off, especially womids our 
affections, be^-ausc^ the blow aimed at liinj, Was aimed at 



1.3 

him, not as a rifizon <jf Illinois, but as the Prcsvltui of the 
ITuited States, and the object of the crime was tlie life of 
tlie whole people. Besides, he performed his dl^ti^s so con- 
sciehtionslj, exercised his authority so meekly, was " so 
clear in his great office, that liis virtues plead like angels, 
tniihpet-tongued against the deep damnation of bis taking 
offi" 

What is the life of John Wilkes Booth '? — would to God 
he had been taken alive, and had sufl'ered a more iguomini' 
ous death — but thank God, he did not escape. A\Tiat is tlie 
life of John Wilkes Booth, and the lives of all his ff'.llow 
conspirators worth, compared with the life of him whose 
loss we mourn? The blood of ten thousand hetacombs of 
sucli execrable villiaus is not worth one drop of the blood 
of such a man as was Ajjkaham Lincoln. Oh ! AKRAH.\:tf 
Llncoln ! Saviour of our country I we had learned to love, 
trust, and admire thee — the power, beauty, and solidity of 
thy character ; the integrity and purity of thy will ; the 
calmness and accuracy of thy judgment ; the sweetness of 
thy patient, loving, and forgiving he^t ; thy earnest fidelity 
and self-sacriticing devotion to the interests of th-e Union ; 
thy " iiife^cible pi/qxisc, that what liberty had gained in otu- 
territic civil strife, should never be lost ;" and tJie light of 
thy faith in God, when darkness covered our laud. T1k5 
da} st;u- had arisen ; the dawn was breaking ; and thy large 
serene eyes were animated and gladdened with the hope of 
so<:)n beholding the full orbed sun mounting the sky. Oh ! 
cmel, cruel, cruel, indeed, was " the dark hand'" that smote 
thee. The bullet that madt^ thee a sacrifice to the cause of 
Liberty and Union, was directed by the hell-governed arm 
of slavery and rebellion. Thou hast fallen, but thou hast 
fallen a blesseil mart^T. The wailim^s of miUions attend 



A 






V 

16 ^ % 

thee to thy grave. '' The friends of freedom of evei-y tougue 
'and in every clime are thy mourners." Thy virtues are em- 
balmed with the praises of all the people, for thy life was a 
career of glory. The cause which was so dear to thee, is 
all the more precious to us, now, since it has been conse- 
crated with thy blood. The standard thou didst hold in 
thy hand, is, alread}', "uplifted again, higher and more 
firmly than before," and shall be carried on to triumph. 
The cause is the cause of God, and m God Is ourtnisf. This 
whole country shall be the home o,'</y of freedom, and 
throughout the world the wrongs of the oppressed shall, ere 
long, be righted. The oppressor shall meet his doom, and 
the thrones of despotism shall fall, and the down trodden, 
cverpvhere, shall lift their heads with joy, and gladness, for 
onward, right onward, is the march of Liberty " to the con- 
quest and empire of the world ;" and him who opposes the 
J r ogress, Jehovah will thrust and cnish beneath the chariot 
v.I-.eel-. 



t 






